A-Trak is a pivotal figure in the last decade of electronic music—and you better believe he knows it. When Fuse chatted with the Montreal DJ at Electric Zoo in New York, he explained how his deliberate attempts to infiltrate the U.S. with his unique blend of rap and electro house succeeded.

"I really tried to bring this to America," A-Trak says. "Five, six years ago I was producing the Kid Sister album and making up-tempo club beats and getting someone to rap over it and thinking, 'This is weird and cool.' The next thing you know, there were more and more big [name] artists coming to me and my friends' DJ gigs and hearing my music, saying, 'Oh, this is cool.'"

Before long, A-Trak-influenced tracks were riding the FM waves. "Then you'd hear a Black Eyed Peas record that sounds like that or a Lady Gaga record that sound like that. The next thing you know, it's the sound of now. But it really stems from an underground thing—we were trying to plant [these] seeds as long as five years ago," he tells Fuse. "Now, it's just pop music. [It's what's] on the radio."

To hear A-Trak talk about how his style (and the sound of his brother's band, Chromeo) went from "an indie thing in a dingy, sweaty bar or club" to "what the Jersey Shore dudes listen to," watch our full interview with the turntablist/producer above.

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